Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) films were deposited by means of remote plasma-enhanced metalorganic chemical vapor deposition from oxygen/diethylzinc/trimethylaluminum mixtures. The electrical, structural (crystallinity and morphology), and chemical properties of the deposited films were investigated using Hall, four point probe, x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), electron recoil detection (ERD), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), respectively. We found that the working pressure plays an important role in controlling the sheet resistance Rs and roughness development during film growth. At 1.5 mbar the AZO films are highly conductive (Rs<6 Ω∕□ for a film thickness above 1200 nm) and very rough (>4% of the film thickness), however, they are characterized by a large sheet resistance gradient with increasing film thickness. By decreasing the pressure from 1.5 to 0.38 mbar, the gradient is significantly reduced and the films become smoother, but the sheet resistance increases (Rs≈100 Ω∕□ for a film thickness of 1000 nm). The sheet resistance gradient and the surface roughness development correlate with the grain size evolution, as determined from the AFM and SEM analyses, indicating the transition from pyramid-like at 1.5 mbar to pillar-like growth mode at 0.38 mbar. The change in plasma chemistry/growth precursors caused by the variation in pressure leads to different concentration and activation efficiency of Al dopant in the zinc oxide films. On the basis of the experimental evidence, a valid route for further improving the conductivity of the AZO film is found, i.e., increasing the grain size at the initial stage of film growth.

In situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was applied to study the pyramidlike and pillarlike growth of Al doped ZnO (AZO) films deposited by means of remote plasma-enhanced metalorganic chemical vapor deposition for transparent conductive oxide applications. Real time SE studies in the visible region allowed discerning between the two growth modes by addressing the time evolution of the bulk and surface roughness layer thickness. While the pillarlike mode is characterized by a constant growth rate, a slower rate in the initial stage (up to 150–200 nm film thickness), compared to the bulk, is observed for the growth of pyramidlike AZO films. The two modes differ also in terms of surface roughness development: a saturation behavior is observed for film thickness above 150–200 nm in the case of the pyramidlike films, while a slow linear increase with film thickness characterizes the pillarlike mode. By extending the SE analysis of the AZO films to the near infrared region, valuable information about the in grain properties could be extracted: excellent in grain mobility values, i.e., larger than 100 and 50 cm2/V s, are determined for the pyramidlike and pillarlike AZO layers, respectively. The comparison between the outcome of the in situ real time SE studies and the ex situ electrical and chemical characterization highlights the limitations in the electron transport occurring in both types of films and allows one to address routes toward further improvement in AZO conductivity.

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Aluminum oxide films were deposited using remote plasma-enhanced metalorganic chemical vapor deposition from oxygen/trimethylaluminum mixtures. Initial studies by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry demonstrated that the aluminum oxide films deposited at temperatures <150 8C were porous. The low refractive index of 1.38 was found to increase to 1.52 under ambient conditions, due to ageing. In order to improve the film properties, two routes were explored. First, by increasing the substrate temperature films with a refractive index of 1.48 were obtained at 400 8C, accompanied by a strong decrease in OH concentration, as shown by infrared spectroscopy. Second, by applying an additional rf bias to the substrate the in situ refractive index increased up to 1.60 and the OH groups were quantitatively removed.

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